


A faded spark

by Ruiskukka



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Brotherly Love, Family, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:27:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26066476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruiskukka/pseuds/Ruiskukka
Summary: Actions take place immediately after the final. A story about what might have been."The heart is so fragile that it can break with a small blow. But more fragile than your heart, there is only your inner spark. If the spark is cracked, then there are doubts. If it begins to fade, there is fear and helplessness. But if the spark merges with the inner force, it generates blind rage."
Relationships: Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael (TMNT)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 37





	A faded spark

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy my work. It will be the first on this fandom and probably the last. And forgive me for my terrible English.

"Now the blue leader," father's words rang out like thunder in the newly cleared sky.

"WHAT?!?!?" everyone froze in shock and incomprehension at what the four of them had heard.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa, hey dad, you're not serious, are you?" Leo was the first to recover from the shock that he had not expected such a sudden responsibility to fall on him. It was definitely not what he wanted in this moment. And in general, never in principle.

"No, I'm absolutely serious," but Splinter was adamant. In fact, he was wondering what the reaction would be after his words in the new dawn and what would happen after. Besides, Leo should have been more responsible, and Raphael should have taken a break from his duties. And this is a good opportunity. Sooner or later, they will decide to return everything back.

"Ah! This! Outrageous!" Donatello, who was extremely indignant at his father's decision, spoke second. Why should Leo be the new leader, not he? This is a terrible mistake! He's better suited to the role. But that's not the point, is it a good idea to change the leader so suddenly? Besides, in that situation. "Why should Leo be the leader? Raph was good at it. And I would be better suited to this role than he," and points to the younger brother.

"Quite purple! This is the final decision, so try harder," he raised his hand sharply and Donnie was quiet.

"Hey, dad, this is a joke, right? It's just not possible," Mikey came to his senses. "Why did you decide to change the leader? And why Leo?" he jumped on top of the still dazed Raphael and continued to bicker: "Wasn't Raph a good leader and a big brother to us?"

"Yes, yes, Mikey's right, it's just not pos..."

"Enough!" father interrupted one of the brothers and looked at them all with an extremely irritated expression. "If I said so, it will be so, and now we should go back."

No one else said anything. Too many shocks this day.

Only Raphael didn't say anything during that short, exciting time. He couldn't understand why his father had decided to reassign the team leader. Didn't he do his best after all? Had he made a mistake somewhere? Didn't try hard enough? It was especially depressing after Michelangelo's words. Was he not a good leader? Something inside him tingled uncomfortably. Like he's losing something. It's like a spark goes out.

"Raph?" for some reason, at this moment, Leonardo felt extremely awkward in front of the older. As if he had said or done something wrong, not their father. "Well, actually," he scratched his head. "You're the only one who hasn't said anything about it yet."

At this moment, the invisible shackles fell from red, and he finally noticed that the brothers were waiting with bated breath for him to finally say something. But he didn't say a word, just smiled weakly, trying to control himself.

"Raph, are you upset?" Mikey, still on his older brother's shoulders, puts an arm around him and asks softly. Of the four, he was the most direct and often spoke and asked questions that the others could not have to ask.

"What? No, I'm not upset," he smiled even more broadly and picked up the younger one, lowering him to the ground, but that smile cost him a lot. He wasn't upset, he was disappointed. Disappointed in himself. It's incredibly difficult for him to control himself right now. It was too sudden. After all, if you change the leader, then he definitely messed up somewhere. "Maybe just a little," Raph patted the younger on the head and took a few steps forward toward Leonardo, who was a little startled by this. "But you know, Raph thinks Leo will be a good leader, so don't worry about it, we'll get used to it," and then he slowly shook his head in search of some familiar silhouette to correct the awkward situation, but as luck would have it, there was no one in sight, and his father was already gone. "You know, father's right, we should be getting back," he said, then hurried away.

A few more minutes passed after red left and only then did everyone come to their senses.

"He's upset."

"He's definitely upset."

"I have analyzed this situation, and I can say that yes, he is upset."

"What are we going to do?"

"You're the leader now, so we'll listen to your plan," at this, Donnie crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes, for he was still outraged by the fact that, as the eldest after Raphael, he had not been appointed leader.

"As if I wanted to," Leo said.

"Why don't we go and have a proper conversation with Raph instead of arguing?" Mikey cautiously interjected into the beginning argument of the brothers without his recent fervor, which slightly puzzled the older ones, who immediately stopped their bickering and turned their full attention to the younger one, and then looked at each other.

"Oh, yes, that's a good idea, Mikey," blue said, trying to get out of the situation. "Isn't that right, Donnie?" he threw his hand over the other's shoulder, slightly pulling towards to him, Donatello's brow furrowed, but he didn't do anything about it, just answered: "Yes, it's a good one, pity not yours," he chuckled a little at his own words.

"Don't start again, better move," Leonardo wanted to already go, but was immediately stopped by purple.

"Wouldn't it be easier to use the portal?" he raised one eyebrow.

"Ah, yeah, exactly," Leo cast a discontented glance at his brother, but then opened the portal and glanced at the younger one, who staggered toward the brothers. Donnie had already disappeared on the other side, and blue put his arm around Michelangelo, stopping him in his tracks. "What's wrong, Mikey? I don't recognize you."

"I don't know, I have a bad feeling," orange says, turning his head slightly to the side, not wanting to meet the older gaze. "As if this is just the beginning," he says softly, emphasizing the last word, and lowers his head, but the new leader heard him and was also uneasy after these words, but he tried not to show it.

"Look, don't worry about it," he said, pulling his brother closer to him. "We'll talk to Raph and everything will go back to normal, so don't worry."

Angelo smiled back and hugged the older brother with renewed enthusiasm, which made it a little difficult for him to breathe, but he was released almost immediately.

"Yes, you're right!" Michelangelo exclaimed, taking his brother by the hand, and with all his speed hurried into the portal, dragging Leon with him, who was a little confused, but quickly gathered himself and, taking up the younger's renewed enthusiasm, also hurried after him.

* * *

"Wait, could Raph have come before us if we used the portal?" Mikey asked, looking at his older brothers. Only now did he notice it.

"Of course not," Dee said immediately, while Leo was still considering the question, "we came earlier to give our new leader time to think about how to solve the problem," the two brothers looked at blue, making him uneasy. Yet leadership is not what he wanted.

"Yes, it would be nice to think," he tried to pull himself together and not show confusion. "Who has any ideas?"

"Oh, I have, I have," Michelangelo exclaims enthusiastically, waving his arms in an attempt to attract attention to his person.

"Yes, Mik..."

"That's, sure, wonderful, Angelo," Donnie abruptly interrupts his brother and sits down in a chair, turns Michael's attention to himself, "but you know, this is Leo's first mission as a leader, and his last, so he should try to handle it on his own, don't you think?" he crosses one leg over the other and with a winning grin looks at Leon, which was extremely puzzled and displeased with the words of his older brother.

"Hmm, your words have sense," Mikey involuntarily nodded his head, agreeing with Dee's words while still thinking them over.

"Donnie, what the hell, I think we wanted to talk to Raph together," the leader said, walking over to his brother, completely at a loss to understand his thoughts. Of course, he always acts like this, but this is already going over the top. Did he really resent the fact that father stepped over him and made a younger brother leader, that's why he decided to recoup? But this isn't the right time.

"Sure," Donatello's face changed abruptly, becoming more serious, causing Leo to slightly puzzled," so you don't have much time, brother, by my calculations Raph will be back in about seven minutes, so you should think of something fast," he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Then what is it?" Leon still didn't understand his brother's recent behavior.

Dee sighed languidly and had to get up from his seat and move closer to the leader so that only he could hear him.

"I don't have anything against Angelo, but do you really think his idea will help?" he raised one eyebrow and glanced at Mikey, who was too carried away to notice the brothers. "With his "Dr. Delicate Touch" he can make this situation a worse, when is not the best situation initially," then returns his gaze to blue, who is thinking about the words of the elder brother.

"Maybe you're right, but it's still kind of wrong," Leonardo said, giving Donnie a skeptical look. Purple only made shrug. "Okay, well, I'll think of something."

"That would be nice, you have five minutes," he said, and then went to Michelangelo. "Michael," he said, drawing the brother's attention to himself, "look, Leo will do the talking, and we'll be his support team," then he looked at brother's recent activity with a little interest.

"Okay," Mikey wanted to go back to his hobby, but when he saw the faint spark of interest in his brother's eyes, he almost immediately flared up with energy. "Are you interested in what I do?"

"No," Donatello looked away and was about to leave, but was caught by orange's hand just in time.

"Look..." while Michelangelo interested his brother, Leon thought that he had been a little hasty in his conclusions about the older brother. Unlike him, Dee could certainly think clearly in such a situation. Looks like he should have learned that from him. Should then ask what this secret is. Maybe he could have done it, too. But this is worth thinking about later, because now the most important task is Raphael. Despite what he had told them before leaving, he was definitely upset. Or even… Disappointed? But this is not accurate. He couldn't quite understand what his brother was feeling at that moment. He noticed it too late. But what exactly can he say to him that doesn't make the situation worse? He should have come up with an alternative to the current situation. If father is so eager to change the leader, then it would be possible to make a show of Leo being the leader, but on missions the true leader will be Raph, as it should be. All what have to do is present it to brother, and it will be over.

No sooner has blue finally considered the entire plan and future conversation, as he notices his brother just returned, that he was a little puzzled.

"Didn't you go after me?" the former leader said, looking around at his brothers.

"We used Leo's portal," said Donnie.

Raphael paused for a few more seconds, then went to his room.

"Brother, we wanted to go skateboarding, are you with us?" Angelo asked, causing Donatello to look slightly puzzled. But when he looked back at Leon, he realized that Mikey had decided to hold Raph back so that the new leader would finally address brother, not just standing. Not bad.

"It would be great," Raphael smiled, but didn't stop. "But I'll join you in a few minutes," and then quickened his pace to finally disappear into his room for a while.

"Hey, Raph," Leonardo said uncertainly, and turned back for a moment to make sure that the two brothers were there, and when he saw them, he took a deep breath. In fact, he couldn't quite think of what he should say, so he would have to improvise as he went. It shouldn't be so difficult. "I'd like to…"

"It's all right, Leo," Raphael shook his head and smiled more brightly, "I know what you're trying to say, but don't," and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "It's okay, really," he chuckled. "Yes, it surprised me a lot at the time, and maybe even upset me a little, but you don't have to worry about that," he said, then glanced at all the brothers. "You know, I believe you'll be a great leader, and as good as I am, maybe even better," and then he put his arm around younger brother, "you can do it, and you can be a really nice leader, because you've helped us out so many times," Raph paused and then continued: "So don't worry, everything will be fine. I think... No, Raph knows that you will overcome any difficulty as a leader, because we are still together, the team is the same," he pointed to Donnie and Mikey, who were still standing a little way off. The youngest was touched by their brother's words, even though they were not addressed to him, when Donatello listened with a little doubt: something was bothering him. Meanwhile Raphael continued: "You can do it, Raph is sure of it, don't doubt it," it seemed at this point that he finished his little inspirational speech for the new leader. And the leader himself, listening to the brother, felt more and more confident with each word, and felt another unimaginable feeling that he could not define for himself, and he was also incredibly happy to hear the entire speech intended for him.

Red leaned slightly closer to his brother, so that only he could hear his words, and whispered: "You're the best Leo, you're going to be our champion, so you can handle everything," and then he pulled away.

Leonardo listened to Raph's last words with a sinking heart. He didn't know what to say to that, and there were fragile tears in his eyes. He didn't know exactly how to respond to this from a brother, especially an older one. His gaze darted around the shelter. His hands were shaking a little from the rush of emotions, with an unpleasant tingling, and his breath was a little off the usual pace, as was his heart, which was beating faster with every second.

"You... really think so?" he finally fixed his gaze on his brother, and his eyes shone with impending tears and joy. This support had a strong influence on him. And he still couldn't figure out how to react to what was happening. Leo had wanted to convince his brother that he didn't want to be a leader and that he should be one again, but after that, he simply couldn't say anything at all. And not after such words. That would be too wrong. And ... Rude? In relation to Raphael, of course. After all, after this, how can even continue this topic? That's why blue couldn't, or rather he forgot about it at all. He was too happy.

"Sure," Raphael nodded confidently and smiled even more brightly.

Leonardo, at first a little hesitant, hugs the brother as tightly as possible, unable to contain all the joy and flushed hope, and quietly says: “Thanks…”

Raph hugs him in response. Having come up with a little speech for the new leader, in fact, red was trying to convince himself of this more than his brother. He has nothing to worry about, he is still with them and is able to perform its role as the older brother, isn't it? But a change of leader still hanging over him. He didn't do his job well enough, so he should try to fix it. But despite his mental anguish, he managed to assure the others that he was all right.

"Hugs!" with that, Mikey turned to Donnie, who clearly didn't like the idea, and he looked skeptical at his younger brother. But instead of pouncing on Dee right away, Angelo waited for he to say something about it so he could hug him.

"Oh, no-no-no," he turned away from his brother not to see his eyes and not to yield, "just don't look, and that's it, he'll leave you alone," purple mumbled, straining slightly, but eventually turning back to Michael, "well, I see him ," he continues to mutter, and sighs languidly, "here I am," and spreads his arms to the sides, accepting the embrace.

"Yes!" after opposition brother against themselves same, Mikey rushes hug elder, "I love you, brother," he was incredibly happy this, so all stronger tried to hug.

Donatello, caught in the brotherly trap, said nothing, looked away, and returned the embrace slightly, patting the younger on the carapace. He was a little embarrassed.

"Hey Raph, I bought a pizza, as you asked, what we are celeb...," at this moment April appears, and she pauses on the floor of the word, noticing the specific situation between the brothers, who also paid attention to her. "Oh, I think I'm interrupting," she says, looking around at them, and at that moment Donnie raises his hands in the air, letting go of his brother, "I'll leave this here and come back later," O'Neil put the pizza boxes on the floor, but just as she was about to leave, Raph called out to her:

"No, it's all right, you're just in time, aren't you guys?" the former leader says enthusiastically, looking around at the others.

Leon finally let’s go of brother and moves slightly to the side. His hands were shaking slightly, as if something were pricking them from within, and he still couldn't quite believe what Raphael had said. It's like it's all a dream that feels so real that you can't believe you're dreaming. But it really isn't a dream. And everything happens in reality. He can't let his brother down after such and such words, so he should try harder than usual, because leadership is so responsible, so it's worth taking it more seriously. Leo clenched one hand into a fist and looked at him. Yes, he could and would live up to his brother's expectations.

"Yes! Pizza!" Michelangelo safely releases his brother from his embrace and flies to his friend to take some boxes of pizza.

"Now we can celebrate Leo's leadership," Raphael proclaims, and also heads toward April, but at a moderate pace.

"Yippee!" the girl jumps up in delight, but her face changes almost immediately. "Wait, what?"


End file.
